Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.
This is a good movie for a more mature audience. The plot is very original and creative. It is about Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) who witnesses his family killed by a pair of murderers. Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx), who is a lawyer, tries his best to sentence both murders to a death sentence but fails. Ten years later, Clyde vows to get revenge on the murderers and Nick. This movie is very fast paced and keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. It is definitely worth a watch. Some of the gory scenes may turn away viewers, but you shouldn't let that defer you from watching this thriller.
Gerard Butler has given us characters for everyone within the past decade. First, he was the Phantom in the 2004 version of "The Phantom of the Opera" then he played an awesome King Leonidas in "300." His next big role was a husband of a widow in the sentimental romance, "P.S. I love You," and now this. It is safe for me to say that Butler is one of my favorite actors after watching "Law Abiding Citizen.”
Here, he plays an everyday guy who decides to take justice into his own hands after his family's killer is set free. His target is the district attorney (Jamie Foxx) who orchestrated the whole deal.
Don't get me wrong, I love Jamie Foxx as an actor but in this film I was disappointed in his performance. He says his lines like he just wants his paycheck so he can go home, his emotions are somewhat the same as his other performances which is odd and frankly, he looks constipated for nearly the entire film. But once again, part of this is due to the fact that Gerard Butler is such a good actor as he outshines Foxx. Butler plays his character with such evil and sinister elements that pin you to your seat but pull you into the screen at the same time. Now that I think about it, the character reminded me of the Joker as they both love to create chaos.
Yes, the product of the film is a bit ridiculous and the writing is conventional, especially towards the end but I saw some of the director's talent shine through at times. He is able to generate considerable suspense and a sense of dread into the theater making the movie almost fit into the horror genre.
No matter what people say about this movie being preposterous, I liked it because of that fact. Here is a movie that finally doesn't care about how smart or deep it is. It's simple and just wants to have a little fun. "Law Abiding Citizen" came just in time for Halloween because it was a mindless piece of candy that was bad for me but I enjoyed it anyway.
If you learn anything from this film, it's don't piss off Gerard Butler....because you are gonna pay.
Law Abiding Citizen is the story of Clyde(Butler)reeking havoc upon the legal system after his family is murdered in a home invasion and prosecutor Rice(Foxx) makes a deal with one of the killers without even trying to take it to trial and gets him a short sentence. Clyde sees Rice shaking hands with the killer after the trial and snaps...slowly. After ten years pass and the killer is set free from prison, Clyde brilliant plan begins and it is very fun to watch.
I try not to spoil movies for people in my reviews but I will say this movie is fantastic in pretty much every way and very fun to watch. To me though it just seemed to miss something. Maybe they should have added more detail into how and why these events are happening and maybe showed how they come about, i mean they did show some stuff but the climax seemed rushed and so did the ending.
I gave Law Abiding Citizen 4 outta 5 stars for those simple facts. Don't get me wrong, i really like the movie. I just thought they could have added some things to give the movie more depth.
I will say though if you are squeamish, turn away when Clyde gets a catered meal in prison...just saying. bad ass to me though.
SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!!!!!
